It is generally well known that all drinks and beverages are not drunk at the same temperature. Whereas some drinks like soft drinks are generally drunk cold or even ice-cold, some other drinks like tea or coffee are drunk hot. In any case, when a particular drink or beverage is left at room temperature, it will itself eventually reach that same room temperature.
In the case of wines, this is generally to be avoided since wines are generally best tasted at relatively precise temperature. Thus, a bottle of wine which is just out of the cellar and at the perfect temperature will unfortunately reach room temperature if left to its own device, with all the lost in taste and enjoyment.
In order to cool wine, numerous devices have thus been proposed throughout the years. In the vast majority of cases, wine coolers come in the form of a bucket which is filled with ice and water. The bottle of wine is then plunged into the ice and water mixture for cooling. Though these devices can effectively cool a bottle of wine, there is no means to control the final temperature of the wine and the latter generally becomes ice cold.
Thus, to obtain a better control on the cooling, Terziau et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,613) have proposed a system wherein a coil fluidly mounted to an inverted bottle circulates through a ice filled bucket. The coil is further connected to a valve for dispensing the wine. This system is however bulky and the wine which remains in the coil between two servings will generally become ice cold, which is generally not wanted, particularly for red wines.
Another system, similar to the one of Terziau et al. is the beverage chiller proposed by Rist (U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,872). In the system of Rist, the chiller is directly mounted to a glass. The chiller further comprises an enclosure wherein a coil is disposed through a low freezing cooling material. The coil extends between a funnel for receiving the beverage and an opening leading to the glass. A valve can be provided near the opening. For cooling a beverage, the latter is poured into the funnel and through the coil. As the beverage circulates through the coil, the beverage is cooled. The valve located near the opening can control the retention time of the beverage. As for the device of Terziau et al., the chiller of Rist is bulky and is not adapted for all types of glasses.
The cooler of Busch (U.S. Pat. No. 528,463), which is probably the prior art closest to the present invention, is directly mounted to the neck of a bottle. The cooler of Busch comprises a first enclosure and a second enclosure located within the first. The second enclosure is generally filled with ice. The periphery of the second enclosure is fluted to define a plurality of channels between the first and second enclosures. As the liquid is poured, it circulates through the fluted channels and is thereby cooled by the ice contained in the second enclosure. The cooled liquid then exits the cooler via a nipple aperture. The problem with the cooler of Busch is that there is no way to control the flow of the liquid. Furthermore, there is no venting means to equilibrate the pressure inside the bottle as the liquid is poured, resulting in an unstable flow.
There is therefore a need for a novel liquid cooling and dispensing device which generally obviates or at least mitigates some of the aforementioned shortcomings.